"My apologies, Captain Tsugikuni."
The moment his Zanpakuto was released, Tōsen Kaname quietly raised his eyes, gazing forward.
His hollow eyes seemed to brighten slightly at this moment, flickering with a hint of certainty and confidence.
He parted his lips slightly, slowly saying,
"My Kiyone is a sensory attack."
"All sword techniques aimed at me will have their trajectories distorted."
"Though I hate to admit it, your proud sword skills are useless against me."
"But I don't think you'll give up, so how about this: let's pretend today's events never happened."
"I haven't caused any harm to the Seireitei, have I?"
"Your ideology is too dangerous." Yoriichi's ears were filled with the resonance of insect chirps.
He frowned slightly, knowing this was the ability of Tōsen Kaname's Zanpakuto.
However, he didn't take it to heart, his expression remaining as calm as water.
"I am the ninth division captain. Why would you think I would turn a blind eye to your seemingly rebellious actions?"
The scene before Yoriichi's eyes gradually distorted, and he said blandly,
"Come back with me for investigation. Everything can be resolved once it's discussed."
"Whether it's your extreme ideology or the mistakes made by the nobles back then, everything will receive its due outcome."
"I can't trust you."
Tōsen Kaname gripped his Zanpakuto tightly, his knuckles turning slightly white.
He had lost all hope in Shinigami long ago.
That's why he wanted to become a Shinigami and change everything.
No matter how grandly Tsugikuni Yoriichi spoke.
No matter what kind of person he was.
He couldn't escape the fact that he was a Shinigami, restricted by the Forty-Six Chambers.
Only by breaking free from the Seireitei's control could anything change.
Unfortunately, this plan was discovered by Tsugikuni Yoriichi before it could be realized, and he had come to apprehend him.
If not for this, why would he make a move?
As long as Lord Aizen isn't exposed, it's fine.
Tōsen Kaname thought silently.
Then.
Thump!
He stomped the ground fiercely, and a subtle crack instantly appeared in the earth beneath his feet.
He bent down, ready to advance.
At this moment.
"Hey!"
Beside him, even Ikkaku Madarame, as slow-witted as he was, perceived Tōsen Kaname's hostility.
He didn't understand why things had come to this.
But no matter what, he couldn't let him succeed.
Whoosh!
Ikkaku Madarame suddenly drew his sword, and a fighting spirit gradually surged in him, along with Kuna Mashiro opposite him.
Unfortunately, as soon as he drew his Zanpakuto, multiple afterimages appeared before his eyes.
Those afterimages were like ghosts, making him dizzy and unable to stand steadily.
It was as if he had drunk several kilograms of baijiu; even the ground beneath his feet felt soft and offered no leverage.
"Stop, Ikkaku Madarame." Tōsen Kaname glanced at him, a hint of coldness in his eyes.
"I don't want to hurt you."
"My enemy is only Captain Tsugikuni."
"You are too weak."
"You bastard!" Ikkaku Madarame gritted his teeth in hatred; the inversion of his senses made it difficult for him to even gather his spiritual pressure.
His heart was filled with anger and unwillingness; this was the first time he had suffered such a great loss in battle.
He forced himself to stay alert, attempting to slash at Tōsen Kaname, swinging Hozukimaru in his hand with great force.
As a result, with one swing, Tōsen Kaname's body turned into mist.
Hozukimaru passed directly through his body, without any sensation of striking.
"I told you, your sword techniques have no effect on me."
Bang!
No sooner had Tōsen Kaname's words fallen than Ikkaku Madarame was sent flying sideways.
It turned out that Kuna Mashiro had directly kicked him.
Kuna Mashiro was full of excitement, mistakenly thinking she had kicked Tōsen Kaname, so she happily shouted on the spot,
"Yay! Baldy, I kicked him! Where are you?"
However.
Ikkaku Madarame cursed,
"Bullshit!"
He rolled a few times, clutching his lower back, and struggled to get up, grimacing, "You kicked me!"
That sudden blow almost shattered his kidney.
Fortunately, he regularly exercised and had a strong physique; otherwise…
…
"Heh…" On the other side, Tōsen Kaname paid no attention to their joking conversation.
He quietly raised his eyes to look at Tsugikuni Yoriichi in front of him, his tone carrying a hint of subtle probing.
"Well?"
"Captain Tsugikuni."
"You don't want your two subordinates to kill each other, do you?"
"We were interrupted just now; let's continue."
Saying that.
Creak…
Tōsen Kaname gripped the sword hilt tightly, his entire body's muscles instantly contracting at this moment.
His voice was tinged with solemnity and an almost imperceptible excitement: "Let's finish this quickly."
"I know your spiritual pressure is strong."
"If you unleash it, my Kiyone definitely won't be able to trap you."
"But since you came alone and not with great fanfare, it means you also don't want the matter of capturing me to be exposed…"
"In that case, don't blame me for not holding back."
This was the chance, the only chance to defeat Tsugikuni Yoriichi.
In Tōsen Kaname's view.
If he didn't unleash his spiritual pressure.
And without the aid of sword techniques.
No matter how strong Tsugikuni Yoriichi was, he would be a lamb to the slaughter.
He—could win!
And so.
Bang!
The ground instantly cracked, a deep fissure like a hideous wound.
Tōsen Kaname dashed forward, swinging his tightly gripped blade fiercely towards Tsugikuni Yoriichi!
The cold blade gleamed with a dazzling and icy light in mid-air, like a deadly lightning bolt.
Danger was imminent.
However, due to the sensory disturbance, in Tsugikuni Yoriichi's vision, the blade Tōsen Kaname swung was still a considerable distance away from him.
Therefore, in Tōsen Kaname's plan, as long as the blade struck Tsugikuni Yoriichi, even if Tsugikuni Yoriichi reacted in time.
He could still leave a significant wound on Tsugikuni Yoriichi's body.
This was his victory!
Almost, almost…
It was about to hit; a moment felt incredibly long, Tōsen Kaname bit his lip tightly.
His previously calm expression gradually became tense just before striking Tsugikuni Yoriichi.
Half a meter…
Thirty centimeters…
Ten centimeters…
The sharp blade got closer and closer to Tsugikuni Yoriichi's body. At this moment, as Tōsen Kaname's thoughts settled, only a short distance of less than a palm remained.
In the real world, a palm's distance can often be covered in the blink of an eye.
However.
It was in this blink of an eye.
Whoosh!
The scene reflected in Tōsen's eyes suddenly underwent a polar reversal!
The tightly gripped Zanpakuto suddenly encountered something hard, and Tōsen Kaname felt his arm lighten.
The blade he had swung suddenly grazed Tsugikuni Yoriichi's body, yet caused him no harm at all.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out that half of the Zanpakuto was gone; the lost half had somehow appeared in Tsugikuni Yoriichi's hand, emitting a dazzling light.
The effortless movement was like plucking a petal while passing through grass.
Like wind scattering leaves, a calm voice sounded,
"When did you get the illusion that you could hit me just by affecting my senses?"
…
"You…"
This sentence suddenly echoed in his ears, and Tōsen Kaname's expression changed drastically.
At this moment, he couldn't bother to continue his attack. Instead, he used Shunpo at an extremely fast speed, his figure instantly disappearing from his original spot, attempting to put distance between himself and the opponent.
Kiyone's attack was ineffective?
How was that possible?
Sensory attacks couldn't be resisted by mere spiritual pressure.
Kiyone's medium of attack was sound; unless one became deaf, even the Captain-Commander would fall victim.
The strength of spiritual pressure could only lessen the effect, not completely nullify it, because it attacked the central nervous system.
Just as no matter how powerful a Shinigami was, their internal organs were still a weakness.
This was why Tōsen Kaname had been so confident before.
But now, someone could completely nullify it, even be unaffected by it…
This made Tōsen Kaname truly disbelieving.
Hoo…
His breathing gradually grew heavy, gripping the half-broken blade, he could vaguely hear the unwilling wails from within it, and his mood became suppressed.
It was too sudden; if everything Tsugikuni Yoriichi said was true, then all his previous actions would have been useless, wouldn't they?
An illusion?
Indeed, Lord Aizen was right; one must never underestimate any opponent…
Some fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead; Tōsen Kaname could clearly feel Tsugikuni Yoriichi watching him.
His gaze seemed devoid of emotion, and his voice was equally calm:
"If your techniques are only this much, then let everything end here."
"Tōsen Kaname, I apologize for overestimating you."
Whoosh!
Yoriichi gently flicked the blade in his hand. In an instant, half of Kiyone's blade grazed Tōsen Kaname's cheek.
The speed was as fast as lightning, leaving only a blurred light trail, like wind sweeping past his ear, with strands of hair falling.
The latter felt a chill, and at the same time, a bone-chilling pain, as if he had walked through the gates of hell.
—Too fast!
What just happened?
He couldn't see the world in front of him, naturally, he couldn't see the half of Kiyone that almost took his life.
Yoriichi's goal was never to kill him, so even though Tōsen Kaname's Zanpakuto was damaged, Yoriichi never drew his own sword.
In response, Tōsen Kaname took a deep breath, saying with a hint of resolve,
"Is this where it ends, Captain Tsugikuni? Don't be too confident. Although I am blind, I know the saying 'one doesn't turn back until hitting the wall'."
"After that last exchange, I understand. You are very strong, so strong that my Kiyone can't affect you, so strong that you can defeat me without even drawing your Zanpakuto."
"But don't forget, these past few decades haven't been for nothing. After becoming a Seat Officer, I never stopped communicating with my Zanpakuto for a moment."
"As its name suggests, Kiyone is tiny, so tiny that no one notices it."
"Therefore, I, the only one who can communicate with him, became his only friend."
"I learned everything about him, and I mastered everything about him."
"Next, I will use this technique for the first time."
"Within this technique, no matter how strong you are, no matter how keen your senses are, you will become a creature as tiny as an insect."
Tōsen Kaname's speaking speed grew faster and faster, like a machine gun.
His attention was now completely drawn to the current crisis, his entire being like a taut bowstring.
Therefore, after his words fell, he didn't hesitate…
"Bankai."
"Kiyone Final Form: Enma Korogi!"
The moment his spiritual pressure briefly erupted, the surroundings instantly plunged into eternal night… No, this wasn't eternal night.
Tsugikuni Yoriichi could clearly feel his vision being stripped away; everything in front of him was a void of blackness.
Although Touhou Sekigan still had some effect, such as being able to see Tōsen Kaname's blood flowing not far away.
But apart from that, he couldn't see anything else at all.
—As a sixth sense, it had no effect on Touhou Sekigan to strip away all five senses.
He lowered his gaze to look at his hands.
The surroundings were silent.
It seemed even his hearing had disappeared; he couldn't hear his own breathing. Four of his five senses had been stripped, leaving only the faint warm touch when his hands gripped something.
Kiyone Final Form?
A good ability.
Any ordinary person would surely fall into tension at this moment.
Because this feeling was truly helpless, like being confined in a black box, completely dark and silent all around.
The Gotei 13 was indeed full of hidden talents.
Mastering Bankai yet deliberately hiding it.
In this regard.
Tōsen Kaname and his friend Komamura Sajin were exactly alike.
However, their reasons for hiding their strength were completely different.
One wanted to uphold his own justice.
The other wanted to uphold the Shinigami's justice and not disappoint his benefactor.
Hoo…
Yoriichi exhaled softly. There was nothing more to say; a brief comparison of the two already revealed a clear winner.
Lurking by his side, he probably intended to deliver a fatal blow in the future…
After a brief thought, Tsugikuni Yoriichi had roughly assessed everything he was experiencing.
And at this moment, Tōsen Kaname slowly spoke…
Although Tsugikuni Yoriichi couldn't hear him, being in an advantageous position and not panicking was also a sign of confidence.
"A silent world of dark nothingness. Everything here is my Bankai."
"Tsugikuni Yoriichi, undeniably, you are very strong, but here, even your spiritual pressure will be stripped away. All the techniques and power you possess will revert to the level of an ordinary person."
"Now… what will you do?"
Tōsen Kaname slowly walked forward.
The half-broken Kiyone was gradually recovering its proper length with the use of Bankai.
The blade shimmered with an eerie light, as if proclaiming its master's power.
When he reached Tsugikuni Yoriichi, he swung his sword without hesitation, his posture extremely graceful, as if everything was under control.
However.
Whoosh.
The swung blade inexplicably stopped, and Tōsen Kaname's graceful posture suddenly faltered due to the resistance.
He turned around in confusion, initially thinking Tsugikuni Yoriichi had accidentally blocked his attack.
But…
He saw Tsugikuni Yoriichi slowly turning around, precisely blocking Kiyone with his sword sheath!
The distance was subtle. Just a hair's breadth from hitting him.
However.
That hair's breadth was as distant as countless worlds.
Seeing this, Tōsen Kaname's pupils widened slightly; he could hardly believe what was before his eyes.
It was as if, within his domain, Tsugikuni Yoriichi, who had become an ordinary person, could still see, still feel his attack, and still easily block it.
Impossible!
It was bad enough that Shikai had no effect.
Bankai was a domain.
Even Yamamoto Genryusai would be suppressed by the domain here.
Because the rule of this place was that both sides had no spiritual pressure, and only by touching Kiyone could one regain their five senses…
Tsugikuni Yoriichi hadn't touched it. How could he block it?
An illusion, it must be an illusion!
He quickly pulled Kiyone back, preparing to slash from behind Tsugikuni Yoriichi.
However, at this moment.
"Are you nervous?"
Tsugikuni Yoriichi's calm voice slowly sounded.
Yoriichi couldn't hear his own voice.
But he knew that the moment his voice sounded.
Tōsen Kaname's heart rate suddenly accelerated, along with his blood flow, doubling.
"Interesting."
He smiled faintly, "As the master of this place, facing me, an ordinary person, you actually feel nervous?"